Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

“For a star to be born: a gaseous nebula must collapse. So collapse. Crumble. This is not your destruction. This is your birth.” – Zoe Skylar Recently, I wrote about the importance of play. Today, through my sugar hangover, my attention turns to decay, decomposition, and death. I wrote this around The Day Of The Dead, All Souls Day, or Dia De Los Muertos, when we honor not only those who have passed on from this lifetime, but also the natural passage at the end of all lives. Here in Denver, the once juicy green leaves have dried, withered, and fallen, now are starting to emit the rotten Autumn scent, reminding me that everything must come to an end. Unpleasant though it may be, the fact is that death can come at any time, at any age; after a long or short illness, due to violent crime or an inexplicably tragic accident.

One day during savasana (the relaxation pose at the end of a yoga class) I basically ‘woke’ up. In that moment, I felt completely content, possibly for the first time in my life. I began to clearly see the suffering I was putting myself through in relationship to my body and eating.

I continually ask myself and reconsider what I’m actually doing and teaching others to do in asana. I often refer back to the great teachers on what they have to say. Beyond the mechanics of making shapes, there is, for me, a profound process under way.

Start tomorrow today An evening routine is a great way to set yourself up to experience an awesome tomorrow. A relaxing bath, a yummy glass of warm, spiced milk or maybe even some journaling are a few actions that could make the morning great. Another great choice is yoga, right there in your bed.

On the topic of Savasana, I've heard some variation of this for years: "Savasana means dead man's pose." That's because when you're in Savasana, you're supposed to be as still as a dead man." Then there's something about how stillness is elusive in modern Western society and how we deserve a few minutes of peace and quiet in a chaotic world.